Fake Science Monthly Presents: I'm Dating A Space Rock
by aquaticscientist
Summary: Jamie finds Lapis washed up on the beach after unfusing from Malachite, and Lapis gets a new friend. This is pretty much a roleplay-turned-fanfic that tumblr user evilspacedorito and I had and are working on together because let's be honest, the world needs more Jamie and Lapis interacting.
1. Melting the ice So it becomes water

Lapis didn't know how long she'd been fused for, but it felt like forever. Needless to say, when she unfused, she was exhausted, and she was thankful that Jasper was tired, too. That was what she chalked her escape up to. Lapis was afraid that, even with all the power of the ocean surrounding her, she wouldn't be able to keep Jasper contained. So instead of risking getting her gem crushed, she summoned her water wings and flew to the surface, and then to the sliver of land she saw in the distance that she hoped was Beach City. Her land wasn't as graceful as she wanted it to be, however, and she soon found herself lying face down in the sand. After a few minutes, she slowly sat up and looked around, trying to figure out exactly where she landed.

Meanwhile, Jamie was certainly one of the less interesting people in Beach City, but what he lacked in supernatural friends or having the mayor for a father, he made up for with pure unadulterated moxie. Nobody in town was as dedicated to his craft as this guy, and he decided to take a stroll down the shore to contemplate a new plan for a script. It always helped him unwind, and it certainly had a lot of opportunities to provide inspirati-what ho? What have we here? Is that... a Gem? Oh good gosh, it is! Jamie ran toward it, a little unsure of what to say, so he just went for something simple. "Hey, you there! Are you okay?" he called out to her.

Lapis managed to back up a couple inches when she saw a human running toward her. She had no idea about how to interact with them or whether or not it would be hostile. It seemed nice enough when it asked if she was okay, though. "I think so," she replied, trying to stand up to prove that she was, in fact, okay. She managed to stay standing for a few seconds before dropping back down to her knees. "Okay, maybe not."

Jamie noted her clear concern and slowed himself down a little bit, now just walking toward her with a sympathetic expression. He had to try hard to contain his excitement from actually being about to meet a Gem, but as a BORN ACTOR he was doing a pretty okay job at it. Once he got about a yard away, he knelt down to be on her level. "You look pretty worn out.. did something happen to you?"

Lapis relaxed a little when he slowed his pace, and she relaxed a little more when he stopped far enough away from her and knelt down. This human didn't seem so bad. Honestly, she was surprised that he showed any concern for her wellbeing at all. She nodded when he asked if something happened. "It's a long story that you wouldn't be able to understand."

He tilted his head a little at her reply. She certainly seemed down.. and he knew quite a bit more about Gems than she thought he did. Clearly she just hadn't been around a lot of humans. "I mean.. I'm still willing to listen if it'll help you out," he offered. "I'm used to crazy stories, my friend Steven tells them to me all the time."

She mulled over the idea of telling him everything that happened. He seemed nice enough. Then it clicked that he mentioned Steven. That meant that she was near Beach City, and therefore near her friend. She didn't know about anything that happened after she dragged Malachite underwater, and she didn't get much information from Steven when he somehow managed to enter Malachite's mind. It was possible that Peridot was out somewhere, and she was worried for Steven's safety. "Wait, you know Steven? Where is he? Is he okay?" Lapis frantically asked.

Wow, she knew Steven, too? Made sense, he supposed. Considering most all Gems around these parts knew him, at least. This one certainly seemed concerned about him, though? Strange, Steven never appeared to be in any danger to him.. "Steven?" Jamie inquired. "He's in his house right now, he's fine! I think he's watching TV with Garnet, actually. Why?"

Hearing that helped her relax. Right. The Crystal Gems cared for him, which was weird for her to think about. She didn't see it in them to care for others. "Long story, remember?" she reminded him.

"Oh... right." Jamie sighed a little bit and looked down, biting his lip and fearing he wouldn't be able to get to know this one... the wall seemed pretty thick. Heck, if he hadn't been able to get to know the Gems that basically served as Steven's parents, how would he get to know this one any better? "Is there... anything you can tell me? I mean, I do want to help you."

She looked him over, thinking over whether or not to tell him anything, and what to tell him if she did want to tell him anything. She figured that there was no harm in a little explanation. "I look worn out because I trapped myself with someone who wanted to hurt Steven. I was also mad at the time, so that made the idea sound great."

Well, that was certainly a little heavier than he was expecting. Who would want to hurt Steven? Was it another Gem? Did they get out? His eyebrows raised in a little bit of alarm as he thought all of this, but he managed to maintain most of his composure.

"Geez, that certainly doesn't sound good... I get now why you asked if Steven was okay. But I promise, he's fine."

"Thank you for telling me that." Lapis actually smiled a little after his reassurance that Steven was fine. She still wanted to find him and tell him that Jasper was out there somewhere, but that was going to be hard with how tired she felt. If she couldn't stand for more than a few seconds, she definitely wasn't going to be able to go walking around to find him.

"You're welcome." Jamie smiled and sat down more comfortably, now feeling a little bit more confident in talking to her. He hadn't really spoken to Gems that often since what happened with Garnet, so he was understandably afraid of screwing things up. Luckily this seemed to be going well. "My name is Jamie, by the way, if it's of any use to you."

Names were good. Calling him "human boy" wasn't really going to fly if they kept talking or if he offered help. "It's useful," she replied. "I'm Lapis, by the way. Lapis Lazuli."

"It's very nice to meet you, Lapis Lazuli." Jamie pulled off one of his trademark bows, hoping to instill at least a little comedy into the situation. This Gem seemed stoic at best, and he very much wanted to break the ice fairly quickly. He didn't really fly too well with unemotional folk.

Lapis laughed a little when he bowed. She wasn't sure whether or not that was some human custom, but she found it funny either way. "It's nice to meet you too, Jamie. I'd bow, but that would be kind of hard right now."

"Will a handshake do, then?" he asked, smiling a bit more softly and extending his hand slowly to make sure it didn't look like he had malcontent.

"A handshake would work." She smiled back and grabbed his hand, shaking it.

His smile widened a little as she successfully completed the handshake. Good, a connection! We're on the right track, Jamie, just don't fall for this one like last time. "So! Am I allowed to at least ask how you got here, Lapis? On the beach without being able to stand, that is.."

Lapis laughed a little. "For a minute there, I thought you were going to ask for my dark and awful backstory." Her smile widened a little as she felt comfortable enough to joke around a bit. "But I ended up here because the bond between me and my prisoner snapped somehow. We unfused and I was worried that she was going to crush my gem. I have water wings, which was how I was able to get here at all."

Oh goodness, she may or may not have just opened up the curiosity floodgates. Jamie got those star-eyes and the :O thing that happens in this trash of a show and took a second to manage to reply. "W-wait you were fused with the Gem who wanted to hurt Steven? How did that even work?"

"She tried to convince me to take revenge on the Crystal Gems with her. As much as I would have loved to, Steven was there." She shrugged. "Maybe it was because we had that in common that we were able to fuse. Did Steven tell you about fusing?"

"I know a little bit from him…" Jamie replied. "Apparently it's what Garnet is. But Steven said it was powered by love, so... how could you have fused with someone who wanted to hurt your friend?"

"Not all fusions involve love, although that does help. Malachite was a monstrosity because she was based on anger instead. Jasper and I just weren't good for each other, and that didn't help."

"I see... so, Jasper wanted to hurt Steven? But he's such a sweet little guy, I don't get it.."

"There was a gem named Rose Quartz whom Jasper fought against in the war for this planet. Somehow, Steven got Rose Quartz's gem, so Jasper thought Steven was her."

"Wait... war?" Jamie's expression suddenly turned very concerned. He'd heard Steven mention that his mother was named Rose, so he guessed that's what he meant by it, but he never mentioned anything about a war for humanity.

Lapis nodded. "It was about 5000 years ago. Not too recent, but not too far away, either."

"That's uh... WOO that's kinda heavy.." Jamie chuckled kinda uneasily, biting his lip and rubbing his left arm.

"Yeah, it is. Still interested in listening?"

"Well, yeah, if you have more to tell!"

"Hmm I think the rest of what I have to tell involves the dark, awful backstory," Lapis warned.

"I can handle it." He shrugged and smirked, kinda confidently.

She raised an eyebrow before deciding to tell him. "Alright. I guess I'll just start with the war." And so she did. She told him what she saw of the war and how she was brought to Earth to crush Rose's forces. That led to her talking about her imprisonment in the mirror by the Crystal Gems close to the end of the war. She looked at the ground when she talked about her experience in the mirror and how hopeless she felt. She brightened up when she talked about Steven freeing her and how he healed her gem. Then she was back to looking at the ground when she talked about what happened when she got back to Homeworld and had to be Peridot's informant. That subject then shifted to what happened after they got to Earth and her fusing and what happened with Malachite, ending on a "and now I'm here" note.

As Jamie listened, he reacted similarly to she did, considering his sympathetic nature. He tried not to overreact too much to what she was telling him, considering how heavy it was. He mostly just hugged his knees, nodding along, the expression in his face changing up appropriately. "Wow... you certainly have been through a lot," he observed. "It sure is a good thing that Steven found you, you know. He's a really good guy when it comes to heavy stuff like this."

Lapis smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I know. I don't know how he does it. He's such an amazing friend."

"He really is!" He smileed in return, relaxing his sitting position a little. "Whenever I see him, he's just so happy to see me. The little guy's kept me going through it all."

"I hope he'll be just as happy to see me again. It would be better if I didn't have to tell him that Jasper's free."

"Are you kidding me? Steven is happy to see everyone! You know what, I'll go tell him you're here right now!" A beaming smile formed on Jamie's stupid little adorable face.

She grinned. "Really? Thank you so much, Jamie! Oh, and can you try to not have the other Crystal Gems come with him?"

"I'll keep it in mind," he added, departing with a wink.


	2. Lapis gets used to the drama zone

Jamie ran up to the beach house and lightly tapped on the window. Both Steven and Garnet looked toward it. Steven smiled and waved, while Garnet did the smirk and finger gun thing. Jamie gestured toward the door, pointing only to Steven before doing so. Once they had met up, Steven exclaimed, "JAMIEEEE! How's it hanging?"

"I've been doing pretty alright, Steven, but the point is, I've got something to show you."

"What?" Steven replied, with a tilted head. Silently, Jamie smirked and pointed toward a thin blue figure sitting on the beach. Steven got all star-eyed, ran to the balcony, and waved. "LAPIS!"

Lapis watched Jamie leave and tried to see what was going on from where she sat on the beach. Once she saw Steven, she smiled and waved back, gesturing for him to come out and see her. Seeing Lapis call him over, Steven ran to her, hugging her as soon as he got to her. Lapis hugged him back as he told her how much he missed her and how he wanted to help her get out of Malachite but omigosh now you're here, what happened to Jasper? Lapis told him about the other gem when asked, and when Steven mentioned telling the Crystal Gems about it, she told him to wait. Instead, she distracted him with her water powers, forming tiny little fish to swim around in the air. She made different things from the water as her and Steven talked about all sorts of things that happened after the ship crashed for a good half hour before Steven tried getting her to stand up. She managed, and even was able to stay standing. A few minutes later, the light from the warp pad shone out the windows. Steven figured that it was either Pearl or Amethyst coming back from some sort of mission and had to go. Before he left, the two of them agreed to try to meet up again.

Meanwhile, Jamie sat on a nearby rock, happily watching the ordeal unfold. Somehow he never got bored, seeing these two do their thing. Once Steven was gone, Jamie stood up to be at equal level with Lapis, stretching out a little. "Gee, you two sure strike a chord, don't you?"

"Well, he _was_ the one who actually talked to me while I was trapped in the mirror. He helped me and I helped him."

"Yeah, I get it, you did each other a solid. Makes sense. By the way, I must say the stuff you were doing with water there was pretty cool!"

"Thanks! I'm so glad there's so much water on this planet."

"Heh, yeah, it's kinda its defining feature, so you must be pretty comfortable here! At least, you know, considering.." Jamie bit his lip a little, rubbing the back of his head.

"It makes the idea that I'm stuck here on Earth more bearable. Steven helps, too. At least I know that I have the ability to defend myself if anyone decides to cause trouble for me."

Jamie nodded a little bit, not wanting to bring up how awkward it seems for her to be talking about being stuck on Earth as a bad thing, considering he, you know, quite likes it here. "So you think you can actually walk and stuff now? There's tons of beach left unexplored! Journeys to be had, TREASURES TO BE DISCOVERED!"

Uh oh. drama zone.

"Let's get discovering, then!" Lapis exclaimed. She took a couple hesitant steps, afraid that she was going to fall over. When she didn't, she grinned and started walking down the beach.

He grinned as well, walking a little quickly to keep up once she started going. "Anything in particular you want to see?"

"I don't know. Maybe we can go look around the town a little?"

"Hmm, I don't know... there are quite a lot of humans in town. You sure you wanna do th-ooh!" Jamie's exposition devolved into a shriek of excitement as he ran over to a log and sat on the left edge of it toward the sea. "This is something!" he exclaimed. "This is where I always sit to... contemplate life." He closes his eyes, basking in the wind. Like a loser. Like he is.

She raised an eyebrow, not really understanding the appeal. "Um. Okay?" was all Lapis had to say as she walked over and sat down on the right edge of it anyway.

"O-oh, sorry.." Jamie regained his composure, standing up and dusting himself off. "I kinda.. got lost in the drama zone for a sec, there." He was a little embarrassed, but still offered a weak smile.

"Oh! That makes-" she paused, trying to think of what to say, "-very little sense, but okay!"

"Uh... hm." He bit his lip, rubbing the back of his head with a little pink in his cheeks, wondering if he should explain. "It's kinda like... no, no, um," he attempted.

Lapis tilted her head a little, simply looking all sorts of confused.

"Do you have theatre where you come from?" he inquired, hoping that maybe that'll break some ground.

Lapis thought back to times before she was sent to Earth. "We used to before the war. Things changed, but that's a different story."

"Well, basically I was kinda born to do that, and my dramatic flair, well.. leaks out sometimes." Jamie sat back down on the log, shrugging.

"Oh! So when you were getting into exploring the beach, was that 'the drama zone'?" she asked.

"Yeah, that was it! It got me bad, that time."

"I didn't mind it. It was actually kind of funny! You just had so much energy."

"You actually liked it? Because.." The loser makes a fist and brings it down to head level, closing his eyes. "I can do it more often," he added with a deep twang to his voice.

Lapis covered her mouth with her hand to try to stifle her laughter. "I'd like that!"

"Well then." Jamie knelt down in front of her, offering a hand. "For you, Lapis Lazuli, I will fully give myself over to the drama zone."

She took his hand. "You don't have to _fully_ just because I like it."

"That's okay, I was kidding." He smirked, pulling himself up back to a standing position.

"Oh. Right. Drama zone." She stood up shortly after him.

"I will try to do it a little more, though, okay?"

"Okay! I'll just have to remember that's what you're doing."

"Believe me, it'll be very clear," Jamie assured her, snickering a little and trying not to blush at her holding his hand at this point.

"I'm sure it will be."

He gently tugged her in one direction. "Come on, let's keep going!"

She started walking in the direction he pulled her. "Where are we going now?"

"Depends! Do you still want to see town?" Jamie looked back at her, a soft smile on his face.

"Sure! If I'm going to be staying around here, then I should probably know my way around."

He cocked an eyebrow, still looking back at her. "There's people there, remember? You sure?"

She nodded. "Positive."

"Remember, Lazuli. You asked for this."

"I can handle it."

In a deep voice, once again, he added, "You accept your fate? The horrific fate that is BEACH CITY, DELMARVA?"

She tried to mimic his deep voice. "I accept it."

He leaned a little closer, eyes squinting and voice gritty. "There's no turning back now, soldier."

"I understand. I trust that you won't lead me to my death."

With a small smirk, he suddenly changed course, heading up the beach toward the boardwalk.


	3. Earth is a deathtrap but a fun deathtrap

**_a/n: sorry for taking so long w the new chapter, but when 2 people work on a fic together and have work and school, editing stuff will take time, especially with things this long. thank you for being patient regardless!_**

There were plenty of people on the boardwalk. Some of them looked at the two of them with confusion. Jamie just kinda took it because why the hell not, while Lapis simply ignored the few weird looks they got, looking at all the stuff on the boardwalk instead.  
"Are you liking what you're seeing so far? Got any questions?"

"What are those?" she asked, pointing to a couple rides.

He pointed up at them too. "Oh, those things? Those are boardwalk rides!"

"Rides?" She looked them over, tilting her head a little. "What are humans doing in those?"

He shrugged. "It's an entertainment kinda thing! You ride on one of those things, go through a seemingly perilous but actually very safe experience, and then you get to brag about it for no particular reason!" He paused for a moment before continuing, "They're silly to explain, you have to ride one to understand, I guess."

"Can we go on one?"

He looked at her with a genuine smile. "You wanna? It's kinda startling the first time."

"Yes, I want to! As long as it doesn't crack my gem."

"Hmmm." He put his hand on his chin, walking in a circle around her. "Yes, I see... hmmm... I deem you LIKELY TO SURVIVE!"

Meanwhile, she watched him circle her, turning around a little, then smiled. "Then let's get on one of those rides already!"

He laughed a little bit at her brashness. "Well, you've gotta pick one first!"

She looked at the different rides before pointing to a roller coaster and exclaiming, "That one!"

"Oh dear. Any particular reason why?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I just picked one."

"That one's a bit more intense than the others, don't cha' know."

"Actually, I don't know. Is there one that you prefer?"

"Honestly? I actually really like the one you picked." He snickered a little, rubbing his neck as he looks up at it. "If you're willing to try it, I'm game."

"Then let's go!" She pulled him towards the ride.

"Oh gosh, okay!" He chuckled lightly, trying to sustain blush as he tried to keep up with her. Meanwhile, Lapis looked around, trying to find out how to get on the ride.

"Ahem." Jamie coughed not so subtly, pointing toward the empty queue and the somewhat greasy-looking ride operator.

"Oh." She walked to where he pointed.

He laughed a little bit under his breath, almost like a small giggle, hoping she wouldn't notice.

Lapis raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing."

"You sure?"

"Oh, yeah, totally fine." He had an exaggerated, dopey smile on.

"Alright! So, how do we get on this ride?"

The car came up, the people weeded out, and the gate opened. "We sit in it, silly."

She climbed into one of the cars and sat down. "Okay. Now what?"

He sat next to her, as it was a two seater. "See the thing above you? Pull that down into your lap."

She nodded and pulled down the bar.

He followed suit with his own. "Now we wait! Our adventure awaits, Lapis. I hope you're ready."

Her grip tightened on the bar a little. "I'm ready!"

The train set itself in motion after others board, and began to climb the lift hill. "Oh, by the way, how used are you to Earth's gravity?"

"I'm used to it. Why?"

The train peeked over the top and began dropping. "It's about to feel a little different!"

Her eyes widened when the train started dropping and gravity starts feeling different.

"AWWWH YEAH FEEL THAT ADRENALINE!" Jamie yelled happily along with the rest of the crowd as the coaster zoomed around the tracks, lifting and diving and getting all those + and - G forces in this bitch. Lapis was terrified for the first few seconds after the first drop, then started yelling happily along with everyone else once she was over that. Then a loop was incoming. Jamie stiffened up, a confident look on his face as he gripped the harness tight. "Let's do this."

Lapis glanced at him to see what to do and tightened her grip on the harness.

As the ride went through the loop, more screaming happened. Mostly a YEAHHH from Jamie but inexplicable yelling from everyone else behind them. Lapis screamed during the loop, as well, and ended up laughing once it was over. Jamie laughed as well as the train slowed down, nearing the end. "So? Whadja think?"

"That was amazing! I never knew Earth could have something this fun!"

"Heh, well everything has good points and bad points once you get to know it a little better." He looked over to her and smiled.

She smiled back. "I guess you're right."

He just kinda.. kept looking at her, his smile not quite subsiding.

Lapis didn't really notice. "So, what ride are we going on next?" she asked. "Also, how do you get out of this?" she added as she pulled on the bar a little.

"Oh, here." He reached down to unbuckle the bar for her. "Juuuust like that!"

She pushed the bar up. "Thanks, Jamie!"

"You're quite welcome, Lapis! As for what we ride next, it all depends on where your feet take you."

She climbed out of the car and looks around, then points to the ferris wheel. "What about that one?"

"Oh, that one's gotta be at least 70% less intense. Let's do it!"

She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards it.

"Heh, since when did you become such an eager beaver?"

"Since I learned that this was so much fun!"

He chuckled a little bit. "Okay, I'll play along!"

She grinned and looks around for the line to get on the ferris wheel. Jamie wondered if he should point it out to her or let her solve this mystery. However, Lapis managed to figure it out after several seconds and pulled him over to the short line. Jamie followed her into it, trying to hold back happy laughter. After a couple minutes of waiting, Lapis climbed into one of the cars, Jamie climbing in next to her.

As the car went up, Lapis looked around at the scenery.

"Sure is a lot to see, isn't there?"

She nodded. "It's beautiful."

"Now you know how I feel when I look at y-the ocean." He tensed up for a second but eased up quickly.

She raised an eyebrow. "Were you going to say something other than the ocean?"

"What? No. My tongue slipped. Happens to humans sometimes."

"Oh! Alright, then." She went back to looking around, mostly looking at the ocean.

"Does it look different from up there?"

"A little bit. I can definitely see more of it."

"Certainly is big, huh?"

She nodded. "There's so many creatures living in it, too." She smiled a little continuing, "It's amazing what kind of life can survive at those depths and pressures."

He smiled too, leaning on the bar to get a close look out at it. "It's kinda poetic, really. They're troopers. Conquerors of the briny deep and all the turmoil that comes with it."

"It's a unique strength that I haven't seen anywhere else on this planet. Although, that's not really saying much, since I haven't seen much of this planet, even when I was in the mirror."

"Believe me, it's pretty much as unique as you think it is." He paused. "Heh, I mean speaking for myself, I crumble under emotional pressure, let alone physical."

"I never would've thought that you would have trouble with emotional pressure."

"Heh... you'd be surprised." He kept leaning on the bar, his expression now a little more sullen.

Lapis looked worried. "Is something wrong? Or are you just in the drama zone again?"

"No, no... I'm alright."

She placed a hand over his. "Are you sure?"

His eyes widened a little bit, and he looked at their hands, then to her.

She moved a little closer to him. "You can tell me if you aren't alright, you know."

He just kinda... squeaked.

She started laughing. "What was that?"

"W-what was what?"

"That sound you just made! Just a second ago!"

"I didn't make any sound!" His cheeks gained a little pink blush.

"Yes, you did! I heard it! It was adorable!"

"What... what did it sound like?"

She imitated the squeak, then started laughing again.

His blush grew a little more intense. "I-I don't make sounds like that, I don't know what you're talking about."

"You did, though! Stop trying to deny it!"

"No. I DENY!" He raised a fist.

She laughed a little and rolled her eyes, then grabbed his raised fist and pulled it back down.

He chuckled a little bit and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Are you done denying it?"

"...I guess."

She smiled and leaned against him a little. "Good."

He just kinda sat there, smiling softly, as fireworks exploded all up in his head.

The ride ended after a few minutes and Lapis climbed out of the car. Jamie crawled out after her, eager to hear what she wanted to do next. She pointed to a spinny ride, the one that forces everyone against the wall because gravity. "Let's try that one!"

"Oh man, you wanna mess with gravity? Lazuli, you just picked a whopper!"

"I've dealt with changing gravity once, I can do it again!"

"Then come on!" This time he grabbed her wrist, tugging her along toward the line. Lapis followed him, watching the ride as she waited.

"Excited?"

"Yes! Of course I am!"

"You certainly don't show it as much as I do sometimes. The defense from the drama zone is strong in you!"

"I think you're more than dramatic enough for the both of us."

"Aw come on, at least show me a little excitement." He got a puppy-face on. "Please?"

"Alright, only because I can't say no to that face." She grinned and looked back at the ride, bouncing a little as the line gets shorter. Jamie snickered ever so softly and bounced with her for a few seconds while looking at the ride, too.

The line slowly loaded onto the ride and Lapis picked a spot and held onto the bars. Jamie, to test her, chose a spot with one empty one in between them. She only smiled at him, not even worried that there was an empty space between them. Once the ride was loaded up, it started. Lapis held on tight as it picked up speed, laughing as it did. Jamie held on, cold-faced, but with a smirk, as if he was in "let's do this" mode.

The ride spun them around for a few minutes before slowly stopping. Once it stopped, she stepped away from her spot and grabbed Jamie's hand, then pulled him towards the ride's exit, stumbling a little along the way.

Jamie stumbled around a little but tried to keep up, clearly dizzy.

"Where do you want to go now?"

"I don't know, there aren't many rides left!"

"We can always go somewhere else, right?"

"Yeah, of course! Beach City is your oyster!"

"Hmmm." She walked around the boardwalk, looking for something to do, then pointed to the arcade. "What about there?"

"Oh boy." He smirked and cracked his knuckles. "In there, things might get a little more competitive. You up for it?"

"Of course I'm up for it! Let's go!" She pulled him towards the arcade.

He snickered, intentionally lagging behind just for the sake of being annoying.

"Come on, Jamie! Hurry up!" She pulled harder on him, trying to get him to pick up the pace.

"I can't I ugh... the gravity is... too much…" He snickered a little as he almost completely stopped moving.

She pouted. "I'll carry you there if I have to!"

He began leaning backwards. "You might."

She pulled on him a little longer before deciding to pick him up bridal style, smiling a bit.

He curled up a little bit, pink on his face and an o.o face on. "O-okay."

She laughed a bit and headed for the arcade, setting him down once they get there.

"So um. Here we are!" He gestured out to everything, still a little flustered. "Whatcha' game for?"

She looked around at the games, then saw some version of Dance Dance Revolution and did the starry-eyed thing and pointed to it. "That one!"

He did the starry-eyed thing too when he saw it. "Oh, you're a gem of good taste."

She practically ran over to it. "How do you start it?"

"Why, it takes money, my dear!" He pulled out a coin like he was in freaking Saturday Night Fever and slipped it into the slot with a twist.

She got on the dance pad, waiting for the game to start.

He picked a song on medium difficulty, placing himself on his own pad. "You know how this works?"

"The humans from earlier looked like they were trying to step on the right spaces. I'll figure it out more when we get started!"

"Basically when the arrows reach the top, you step on that arrow!" The song began to start, and Jamie bounced in excitement. Lapis nodded, and once the arrows showed up and started reaching the top, she stepped on the right buttons. She missed quite a few at first, but slowly got the hang of it. In time they were moving almost completely in tandem. It was quite a spectacle, really, a few people came to watch.

Lapis didn't take her eyes off the screen as she danced, smiling the whole time. Once it was over, she turned to Jamie and hugged him. "That was so much fun! Can we do another song?"

Jamie laughed a little bit, matching her hug. "Well, yeah, but you've gotta let go of me first!"

"Oh. Right." She let go of him and stood back in the center of the arrows.

With a tiny smirk he put in another quarter and assumed READY POSITION.

"Can we do a harder song?"

"Yes." He dramatically chose one of Hard difficulty. "Yes. We. Can."

"Alright! Let's do this!"

The song began and immediately this kid was in the zone. Lapis started off much better than last time and quickly got in sync with the game. In time, they were moving like they've got some kinda mind link. Lapis laughed and smiled as she nailed difficult combos, and Jamie chuckled along with her, moving his arms and body and almost getting too into it, as usual. She matched his enthusiasm easily, moving her arms and body as gracefully as she can manage while staying focused on the arrows. As the song ended, they both get "AA" ratings and Jamie slammed his feet on the left and right arrows, breathing heavily but with a big grin on his face. Once the song ended and Lapis could move without risking her rating, she grinned and bounced up and down. "That was great, Jamie! Look at how high our scores are!"

He chuckled a little more wearily, holding his head in his hand. "Heh, yeah, we make quite a duo! That's... that's enough dancing for right now, though. Oof.."  
"You can stop if you want, but I want to do one more."

"I... y-yeah, I'm gonna sit this one out if that's okay…" He put another quarter in for her before stumbling off of the pad and leaning on the adjacent wall.

She looked through the songs and found a hard one that also went well enough with her dance style and selected it. Once it started, she got into it, arms and body moving gracefully and elegantly as she stepped on the right arrows, and she smiled the whole time. She was tired when the song ended, but that didn't stop her excitement when she got another "AA" rating.

Jamie lounged against the wall and watched the spectacle with a persistent smile on his face, partly because damn, what a DYNAMITE GAL, but also because shit if her smile wasn't contagious.

She hopped off the pad when she was finished and headed over to him, figuring that she should give the humans who gathered around to watch a turn. "So, what other games are there here?"

"As many as you can imagine!" He exaggerated with a grand outward gesture. "Take a pick from our bountiful crop!"

"Are there any that you really like? I have been picking everything we do today so far." She looked around at some of the nearby games while he thought.

"Ooh!" He pointed to one of those Jurassic Park-type on-rail dino shooter driving simulators. "That one!"

She nodded and headed over to it. "How do you play?"

He sat in it and took the dopey red gun in his hand. "Simple. Get the big lizards before they get you!" Lapis nodded again and sat next to him, grabbing the other gun. As he inserted the quarter, the simulator began churning, mimicking a car on a dirt road, as the game began with not much activity yet. She looked from the screen to Jamie and back, not sure when the things she was supposed to shoot come out.

"OH SHOOT!" A raptor suddenly leapt out, followed by two more. Jamie shot the first one down in a second.

Lapis shot at the other two, taking several shots to kill them both. "Are they all going to jump out like that?"

"No.." A T-rex began chasing the car. "Some run."

She shot at the T-rex, able to land more shots since it was bigger.

He added to the fire. "You're taking this surprisingly calmly!"

"Those ones that jumped out surprised me a lot more than you think!" As soon as she said that, more raptors jumped out. Her eyes widened and she jumped a bit, her mind still on the T-rex. She still shot at the other raptor. "How many more of those are there?"

"As many as it takes to kill us." He laughed, shooting down a few more that jump out as they nearly finish off Rex.

She took a couple more shots at the T-rex, grinning when she finished it off.

"Well played," he commented... as raptors swarmed.

"Thanks!" She shot at as many of the raptors as she could, quite a few of the shots missing.

They began to instill damage, the car shaking appropriately, jerking them around a bit. That certainly didn't help their aim as they tried to fight back. "Woah!" Lapis exclaimed as the car jerked around. She tried to shoot at the raptors, but the shaking car didn't do anything for her aim. She missed even more shots, although she did smile when she managed to kill one of them. One took a very hard slash at the car, sending it quickly thrashing toward Jamie's side. Lapis slammed against him because of that, missing the shot she was about to take. With that, they ended up dying. Jamie just looking at the screen with pink cheeks as Lapis leaned against him.

"That was a lot harder than I thought it would be. It was fun, though!"

"H-heh, yeah, certainly one of the more adventurous things to do here!"

"Were those creatures based off of something real on Earth?"

"Oh yeah, like millions of years ago, though!"

"I'm glad they aren't around, then. Actually seeing one would be a lot more terrifying. Even though I could probably still beat it."

He looked her way with a small smirk on his face. "You think so, eh?"

She nodded. "Mhm! The little ones would be really easy to beat!"

"Would you need to summon water or could you do it WITH YOUR BARE HANDS?"

"With water, of course!"

"Awh, come on, you can take 'em in fisticuffs!" He suddenly spoke with a roaring 20's newscaster twang in his voice, trying to hold back a snicker.

She laughed a little. "Not if they were anything they're like in that game!"

"Well, in any case, you'd fare better than I would, even hand to hand."

"Don't worry! If we both ran into one of those creatures somehow, I'd protect you."

He looked at her with a tilted head, eyes wide. "You would?"

"Of course I would!"

Jamie got the starry-eyed look at that.

She put her gun back. "So, what's next?"


End file.
